I O Ranch Processing, LLC

05/25/2026

Today we honor, and give thanks, to those that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country, our freedom, and our safety. Please also keep their families and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

05/25/2026

Had a friend go hog hunt the other night. Got 14 and saw 100. With the drought well behind us, we now have more hogs than ever on the I O. We also have more turkeys, cotton tails, Jack rabbits, field mice, foxes, etc. Everything is flourishing. Even our big steers on pasture have been out gaining our steers in the feedlot. Oh, more flies, too. 😊

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYxBD15g2Gj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

05/25/2026

Smoked pork chile rellenos with plenty of pecans, raisin, and onions.

05/25/2026

When the pear burner comes out, there’s a good chance dinner will be good.

05/24/2026

Beef back ribs and crayfish mac & cheese.

05/22/2026

There is not a lot of Flat Iron on a beef but what there is, is excellent. As tender as the tenderloin but with more marbling, and that great chuck flavor.

When I was in grad school, everyone loved to talk about the new cut of beef, the flat iron. Cattle didn't suddenly start growing a new muscle, but some researchers at Colorado State and Nebraska discovered that a muscle in the Chuck was much more tender than most other muscles in the body, but when it was cut in a conventional manner, it contained a large piece of connective tissue. Those researchers worked on a new way to cut that muscle and "created" a new steak!

05/18/2026

A cut so good and so easy to cook. Smoke it, grill it, or indirect heat. Just don't cook it past medium rare.

I shared a post about the Tri-Tip earlier this month and someone asked me to make a post about where that cut came from, so here you go.

05/12/2026

Ribeye cap is a great cut, whether you leave it on the ribeye or separate it. We don't separate it unless you ask us to, but many of our commercial customers want it off so the ribeyes are more uniform looking from the chuck end to the rib end. We have plenty of our own Akaushi ribeye caps in stock and they are half the cost of our ribeyes. PRO TIP: when cooking steaks for you and the wife, cut the ribeye cap off of your wife’s steak and eat it off the grill, and then tell her you picked out a smaller steak just for her. 😊

One of my best friends is having a birthday today and I asked her what her favorite cut of beef was. She asked me, "Favorite cut or favorite muscle?"
Then she reminded me how juicy and tasty the spinalis was... Yum!
Whenever I split a ribeye with a friend, I always cut it at a funny diagonal to be sure that both of us get equal shares of the spinalis. I also request the steaks with the larger cap when I'm given a choice.

05/11/2026

A good indication of total carcass muscle is the ribeye. Generally, an average beef steer has approximately 1.1 square inches of ribeye area per 100 pounds live weight.


Source : SDSU